have hired or purchased something from a sponsor. Because
the volunteer leaders tend to be the decision makers within
their organizations, they are the target audience for the ABA
Section of Litigation’s corporate sponsors. Any information
collected from volunteer leaders is reported to the sponsors as
part of the valuation process.

Knoepke recommends collecting data throughout the year.“Have people in your organization look for areas where theycan mine data,” she says. “Have systems that are institutedfor collecting data. Have databases where you store informa-tion.”American College of Healthcare Executives staff take photosthroughout the year at events corporate partners sponsored sothey can give sponsors a physical image of what benefits theyreceived by partnering with ACHE. ACHE corporate partnersalso are given a summary book at the end of the year thatincludes the pictures, all sponsored marketing collateral, mail-ings, any print pieces the sponsors produced on their own anda full summary.

“There are triggers in there that might help a sponsor recall
a great conversation or meeting that took place that may have
sparked a relationship between the sponsor and one of our
members,” says Laura J. Wilkinson, CAE, assistant director of
development at ACHE.

Whether by collecting the data or sharing it with sponsors,
keeping the focus on value is key. Moser says associations can
have greater success overall with sponsorship programs if they
view sponsorship as being less about making money and more
about sharing value with their partners.

“It’s not about underwriting the cost of a particular service
or function,” Wilkinson says. “It’s not about what you can get.
It’s about bringing what is of value in your organization to the
sponsor.”

Jessica D. Squazzo is a writer in the division of communications and marketing at the American College of Healthcare Executives. She may be reached at
jsquazzo@ache.org.